The Race to Host Amazon

In today's world of small attention spans and low patience level, Amazon has become a global leader in efficient delivery and competitively low pricing. Amazon is now seeking to establish a second headquarters somewhere other than Seattle, WA. The global powerhouse currently makes a profit of $92 million per quarter. The opportunity to host Amazon is irresistible to many cities across the country.

Amazon's second headquarters brings with it 50,000 high paying jobs as well as an estimated $5 billion total investment. The risks are still there however. Many cities have pitched giving Amazon tax breaks in order to incentivise the company. For example, Newark, New Jersey has offered a $7 billion in tax incentives. However, if these proposed tax breaks are too high, the city could end up having to shoulder the costs because the costs are outpacing the tax revenues.

Besides tax incentives, states are doing anything to stand out including offering to rename the city itself to "Amazon" like the city of Stonecrest, GA and lighting up landmark buildings to the signature orange color like New York City. Amazon has received 238 proposals since the company announced they were seeking to establish a second headquarters in early September.

These bizarre offers will probably not make that large of an impact on their chances of winning. Amazon has made it abundantly clear that they have very strict requirements on what the city needs to have if they are chosen to host HQ2. These requirements include having an international airport, quality public transportation and at least 1 million residents.

So if multiple cities fulfill these requirement, how can they market themselves in a way that makes the city stand out? Would these tactics be helpful in convincing Amazon to relocate to that location or is Amazon looking past the proposals to a more economically dependant analysis? These questions will soon be answered once the company announces the new location of HQ2.